General Chat

how far back have u gone ?
how did you do it?
any tips?

On one branch of my maternal side ; the furthest back I have got for sure is 1771, the other about 1790

However I have my father's paternal line back to 1525, not of my doing though, I was given a one name study which had taken the researcher a lifetime to do, before records were online mainly , just many hours and years of trawling through graveyards, church records etc. father's grandmother's line about 1742 but again that is the work of researchers in Canada, not me.

On most branches I am stuck around 1830.

1798 on my paternal line but have now really hit a brick wall

I have managed to get back to mid 1700s in UK and in Europe all on line.

As you see I don't live in UK but with the help of the free Family Search site I have tracked several lines well past the start of the registration date of 1837.

I have some very different family first names of Simeon, Hezekiah and Phineas which are repeated from the 1700s through to the 1911 census, in fact my paternal grandfather and uncle were both Simeons.

My husband's grandfather was of Dutch/Belgium and German parentage, he was born in UK with a father named Ignatius so once again much easier than a Jones or Smith to follow.

You need luck and patience. Hope you get back as far as possible. :-)

I'm at 1789 n can't find any more I know that persons farther name due t baptism record but no records of d.o.b it's brilliant that u can go so far back if love t here about people's experiences

Got back to 1650 on mothers side,which can be quite a job cos of surnames,but when I got back to 1800 I reverted to the unusual name of my grans grandfather ,so that helped.
My great grandfather came from Tipperary though and I am stuck with that one at 1831
Only got back to early 1800s on fathers side..must have another go as there are more records now than when I started.

1759 on my mothers side but problems going further back as all the old parish records between 1730 and 1758 were lost or destroyed - a few possibilities for individuals between 1730 and 1758 but no way of accurately confirming them :-(

On my fathers side got back as far as 1821 and still researching for earlier connections :-)

I would never have got to where I am without the invaluable assistance and guidance from the volunteers on this site who give up so much of their time t help others <3

That's so true ppl are so helpful

Is this site the best one or r there others with more records

back to the mid 1700's on both sides - I never use records on this site - I use the free Mormon site - www.familysearch.org - I think it's fantastic

The only thing I found GR any good for was the invaluable assistance and guidance you get from the volunteers on the boards - they give up so much of their time to help people :-)

we do it cos we love it :-D

I've got names back to mid 1600's on one side - but they lived in 2 villages in Dorset for generations!

For me Ancestry offers the better records because I have London ancestors. But some find other sites suit them best. it's largely down to what records you need :-) but the help on here is terrific :-)

My one tip would be not to rely on the accuracy of other people's trees. Check every record you can for yourself.

I've gone back to 1630 and 1720.
Like Sheila's ancestors, both families lived in the same villages for generations - one in Sweffling, the other in or around Fawley in the New Forest.
Strangely, no-one knew until I started this genealogy lark.

When I was a child, we lived in Fawley,(one of many places - I moved 28 times in 28 years!) and as an adult, me and the ex lived just down the road from Sweffling.

1402 o0n one line 1566 on another
and 1512 on my hubbys side

and 1923 0n my brick wal

l its been dam hard work :-( :-( :-(

It cant all be done online,as it just covers the basics and getting the bone ,,,bdm,census,,,,,visits to Archives and Record Offices are a must to put flesh on the bones as there can be a a wealth of information that isnt and never be online,,,visting a RO or Archive is a great experience and meeting other people,armchair research is no contest.

I love Middlesbrough Archives

its surprising what you find just by opening draws
or reading very old papers
that maybe haven't been looked at in years

mind must the tiny print has cost me my eyesight :-( :-(

Wonder is there's an Archive in leeds will have t find out <3

My 1630 line were in Sweffling. We (mum sister & I) went to a church in the village - there were two opposite each other. There were two lovely ladies doing the flowers, we asked if there were copies of the church records available - there were :-D
They asked what name? 'Cattermole' we said (my g x 4 grandfather - his daughter was my g x 3 grandmother, so I'm not giving any details of my name away) :-D
'Oh yes, that's this church' was her reply. She went on to explain that, during the Civil War, 'this' church was where the Royalists came, the Parliamentarians went to the one across the road!!

She bought out the records, and we could immediately see 'our' line. What was intriguing was the change in the spelling of the name.
It started off as Kackermull :-D

Fortunately, being such a strange name, it was still identifiable.

My brick wall is my dad's dad. Dad was born in 1926, when gran was only 18 and unmarried.
Gran wouldn't say, and I believe dad's dad was her cousin.